Pictures

Okay. Bear with me. I am going to try and add some pictures. Here I go......




This is Micheyla a couple days after her hair cut.








This isTaya's new haircut. Taken Right after.















This is Alanna's, a couple of days after :)














Cassandra taking a big girl bath! And a goofy face!














Grammy listening to Cassandra's stories. This was her first time meeting Cassandra and she is enjoying it. If you can't tell......


















This is what happens when you try and take a picture of her and she wants the camera :)















My dad and Cassandra became side tracked by a motorcycle at the mall. This was his first time meeting Cassandra! Like grandpa, like granddaughter!

The One

So, I met the one just a few months after high school. He was a cowboy with somewhat longer hair and always wore this cowboy hat with these rope type things hanging from it. It bothered me and I was not physically attracted to him. But that was not going to stop him. I never thought I would be into a cowboy. So, we hung out that weekend and he kissed me that first night. I was excited but at the same time, not so much. I think I just had other things on my mind and was not looking for a relationship with someone new. He didn't give up though. I told Angie, who is one of my best friends and introduced me to Justin, and she told her boyfriend, who in turn, told Justin that I was not that into him because of the way he dressed. He changed his whole look. From cutting his hair, shaving his face, to a completely different wardrobe. We met up for lunch the next day and I was surprised and at the same time, still not that into him. I think he was a little straight forward for me. I don't know though. The weekend flew by. I met him Friday, September 11, 1998. (I know, bad day, three years later) And I finally opened my eyes and realized that he was the one......

He had officially asked me to be with him on Sept 15. Just four days after we met. He bought me a necklace with a heart on it, a dozen roses, and a gray teddy bear. With a card and his words, we were official. My 18th birthday was that Friday, Sept 18. I went to dinner with my parents, who came down from Prescott, two hours north, and my grandfather and I believe my brother. Angie went with me. I wore the necklace that Justin gave me and told my parents that it was a friend. (Sorry mom and dad) I was scared to tell them that I had met someone that I believed to be the one. I moved in with Justin, and his parents, a week or two later. On Oct 4th, he proposed. We went to a Kareoke place and he got down on one knee, in front of our friends and my brother and he proposed. He then sang a song to me by Gary Allan called "Her Man". It is still our song. We didn't get married for over a year after that and had a small wedding. I didn't even wear a wedding dress. But we exchanged our vows, which is the most important thing. I had already had our first child by the time we got married. I got pregnant Nov. 18th of 1998. She was born on August 25th, 1999 and we were married on December 10, 1999.

I did make the mistake of breaking up with Justin a short while after he proposed to me. I was scared and didn't believe that he really wanted to be with me. I was a very self conscious person and still am. I never thought that I would settle down with anyone, let alone the perfect guy. Justin is amazing and always will be. I know I got lucky. I am so thankful that I let my guard down when he continued to pursue me. I thought I had loved before but found out that I never knew what love was until I met him. He is a wonderful father and an amazing husband. I thank the Lord for him every day. And I also thank him for our wonderful children. We have been blessed with a wonderful relationship and four beautiful daughters. We do struggle, financially, but we make it through okay.

All of this coming from a man who had a rough childhood and no biological father in his life. Another blog, another day.....

Life

So a friend, Sheri :), gave me the idea to post a little bit of history. So, here it goes. I grew up in a Christian home with an older brother and both parents. My parents are still married today. (33 years) I went to church several times a week and at times loved it and at times, didn't really want to go. But I am glad that I continued to go. I would not even know where to begin to think of where I would be today if it wasn't for the youth group. I had a decent childhood. I was mauled by a dog when I was four and received over 100 stitches. I still have the scars and they are pretty noticeable. I have been asked why I didn't sue and get the scars fixed but I think they are apart of me now. I began working at the age of 16. I actually was hired on before my 16th birthday but couldn't start until I was officially 16. I worked at a movie theater. I worked there for almost a year. I started my junior year. And left going into my senior year. I don't know why I left though. I had a rough junior year, or at least thought it was rough at that time. Although, looking back, I wish I would have not handled situations the way I did. I had a couple of really good friends that were males and I just seemed to get along with them better than females. I dated one of them junior year and that lasted a few months. I don't remember exactly. He was the first one that I thought I "loved". He was a good person but we just didn't "click". I don't know for sure but I believed that he cheated on me with a girl that I couldn't stand. That killed me. During all this, my parents separated and I moved into an apt with my mom. I had too many things going wrong and I lost it. I thought my life was "doomed" because the first person I "loved" cheated on me, or at least I think he did and I just figured that I would never find the one for me. I figured I would be alone and miserable my whole life. Oh and on top of the feelings, during all of this, my grandfather passed away. So, I definitely had alot going on. And I was only 16. The time when my life is supposed to be wonderful. I cried and cried for days about my grandfather. I believe I actually stayed the night at the boyfriends house that night. A few days later, I remember being told to "get over" my grandfather's death. How do you tell someone to get over a death? It takes time. Then, after that, I was dumped. Worst school year of my life. I ended up transferring schools for my senior year. That ended up to be a better year. I only had three classes and I worked the second half of the day. I started working at a elementary school and loved it. I worked in the front office. My parents sold their house and moved two hours north and I did not want to transfer schools again so I moved in with friends. I ended up living with two different friends and their families and my grandmother. I don't know what exactly happened. I ended up meeting a guy through my best friend. She met him online and we both met him at a public place. She thought that we were meeting him for her but him and I clicked. Turned out, his mom was a teacher at the high school that I went to and I had her for one of my classes! Let me tell you, it was weird seeing her outside of school. We dated for a few months but after I graduated, I moved up north with my parents and he said long distance relationships didn't work so we went our separate ways. I was upset but it didn't tear me up. I understood and I also believed that if we were meant to be, that we would be together sometime. I ended up moving back a couple of months later and moved, again, with one of the friends that I had stayed with during senior year. She introduced me to a guy that was friends with her boyfriend. I didn't think it would work out cause I was still stuck on the guy that broke up with me a couple months before plus I was casually dating someone else. It turned out, this guy that my friend introduced me to was the one.............................

Trying it out

So, I know of a couple of people that are using this website and I thought I would try it out. I figure it would be a good way for people to keep up with our family, especially those that do not live around us.

Alanna and Micheyla start school tomorrow. Alanna is in fourth grade and, unfortunately, Micheyla has to repeat the first grade. But, we would rather her have to repeat now instead of later, when she is older.

Alanna started shaving her legs today!! I cannot believe that my almost nine year old has started shaving. But her legs had dark hair and she was tired of people pulling her leg hair. So, we shaved today. I figured we should do it before school starts. I never realized how white she was! Until we shaved her legs. She actually had them shaved with an electric razor over the weekend but we did the real thing today. She was so excited.

On top of that, most of you know that we cut the girls' hair very short. A new change. My best friend, Angie, and I decided one day to just go to town! I cut the bulk of it off and Angie styled it. She did a fantastic job!! Alanna's got a little shorter than we wanted because she kept moving.

Taya is just Taya. She is a rambunctious four year old who enjoys being with all of us. She has a best friend, Angie and Kyle's daughter, Lily, who is almost 3. Angie and I think they are going to be life-long friends. I actually have a friend like that and I am helping her plan her wedding :) I am matron of honor, although she hasn't mentioned me in her blogspot. I got the idea from her and she got the idea when she found a friend she had not seen in years on here. So, here I am. I know that most of my family does not have a myspace, which I use more than any other site, and this would be a good way for them to keep up with us. Especially my parents :)

Cassandra is now sitting up on her own and is rolling all over. She is about 6 1/2 months old and is growing too fast. She is such a happy little girl but I just wish she would sleep through the night! She has done it twice this past week though! So we are getting better. Up until Monday night, the first night she slept, she had only done it once before when she was just a few weeks old. I will post some pictures up soon.

I will get some pictures of the girls on their first day of school.
I wanted to get some pictures of them today. We went to church for the first time in almost two years. We were regulars the spring of 2006 but stopped going as much during the summer because the church we attended was about 30 minutes away and we did not have a/c in our vehicle. Then we moved out of state and never went back. We attended a different church with our closest friends, Angie and Kyle, and we really enjoyed it. When we were regular members in 2006, we went to church with them. They left that church after we moved and found this one. It's a baptist church in Chandler. The church we all used to attend was a baptist church in Gilbert. I actually attended it at one point as a child with my family. The pastor was still the same. But, the church has some problems and Angie and Kyle found out and left the church. They also attend church with his parents, Brian and Michelle, and Kyle's sister, Brie. We are pretty close to them as well. Wonderful people.

As far as my family, I have become very close with my parents over the past two years. They are amazing. I miss them so much. They currently live in CO but are looking to move again. I am hoping and praying that they come back to AZ but I will understand no matter where they go. But, they still have a house here! So, maybe it's a sign that they are supposed to be back here. (wink, wink) I saw my mom just after we moved back in June and saw my dad this past Monday. They both look fabulous and I am jealous! They have both lost weight. They look and feel so much better than they have in a while. I am so proud of them and happy for them. I have a couple of pictures of both of them when we saw them. Unfortunately, the pictures of my dad are not that great as they were taken from a camera phone. My digital camera died as I was going to take a picture. I was so upset. But, a camera phone does justice when you don't have anything else.

I guess that is all for now. We are just one big happy family. We have had our ups and downs, like everyone else, but we grow stronger and stronger every day!